


The Store Counter

by supremesapphic (StormcageSweetie)



Category: Carol (2015), The Price of Salt - Patricia Highsmith
Genre: F/F, First Meetings, Love at First Sight, Role Reversal, Tumblr Prompt, Writing Exercise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 11:16:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12011583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StormcageSweetie/pseuds/supremesapphic
Summary: Anonymous said: carol x therese au where carol works in the shop and therese leaves her camera.Here's a little quick write. I'm gonna try and start doing these more often so I can get in the habit of writing every day, and at some point they'll become a warmup exercise before working on a few longer pieces I've had planned for awhile.





	The Store Counter

The girl had seemed so upset when she came in. Carol had been sitting behind the counter of the furniture store for the third consecutive hour without so much as a window shopper on the dreary Thursday morning (the most detestable day of the week to buy a sofa or dining room set, she posited), when she heard the bell above the door jingling and looked up from her magazine to see the timid little thing approaching her slowly.

  
Short brown hair. Nose reddened by the cold, almost the same color as the red in her hat. Practical jacket. Worn shoes. An even more worn camera. A pretty face and shocked eyes that spoke to a rocky current beneath their surface.

  
Carol surveyed the shop briefly--she looked so out of place, surrounded by furniture. These were carefully selected pieces, meant for larger and grander homes than any nearby. They were meant for status and style. For permanence. This girl, though, exuded a sort of transience. As if most things she did were by chance; as if she had just suddenly been flung from some far corner of the universe and catapulted into some semblance of this thing that everybody had collectively decided to call life. Her face looked like she had recently realized that, as well. She didn’t seem at ease with the idea.

  
“Good morning, miss.” Carol spoke, coral lips sliding into an easy grin. “Can I help you find something?”

  
The girl just stared for a moment, her eyes locked with Carol’s.

“I don't, um...” She stumbled, cheeks flushing as she averted her gaze to a distant spot on the counter just slightly to the left of Carol. “I'm just browsing.” She said quickly. “Thank you.” She added with an embarrassed smile.

  
“Take your time, dear.” Carol nodded. The girl wandered off to one side of the showroom.  
Throughout the roughly three minutes she spent scrutinizing a wooden chair, Carol caught her looking over her shoulder at her twice. Each time she quickly looked back to the chair, pretending not to have seen Carol staring straight back at her, but by the third time Carol supposed she realized it was rather useless. She strode back over to the counter, taking a deep breath for her second approach.

  
“I'm actually looking for something for my apartment. It just feels so...” She trailed off hopelessly, at a loss for words. Carol understood, though. She regarded the girl briefly from head to toe.

  
“Have you thought about a throw rug?” She suggested. “We don't have any here, but I know a few shops nearby. I could give you the addresses. That is, if you'd like.”

  
“A throw rug.” The girl said, toying with the idea. She nodded. “I would like that very much.”

  
Carol beamed, grabbing a pen and paper to scrawl the names onto. “There.” She said, sliding the slip across the glass countertop. Their fingertips touched for just a second, but she registered a slight change in the girl's face. “Tell them Carol sent you. They just might give you a discount.

  
“Carol... is that your name?” She asked. Carol simply nodded with a short hum of confirmation. “That's lovely.” She responded, staring a moment before remembering her manners. “I'm Therese.” She added, grinning awkwardly again.

  
“Well, Therese, I hope that you find what you're looking for.” Carol said with a wink. Therese mumbled out a small thank you have a nice day, blushing as she stared at the piece of paper like it held some sacred verse. She looked back at Carol one last time, and then with another ring of the bell above the door she was gone. Carol watched her, all bundled up against the wind whipping its way down the alley as she walked away. She’d be back. Carol could tell that much.

  
She leaned back onto her chair and resumed more or less the same position she had been in before. It’d probably be awhile more of this godforsaken Thursday before anyone else came in, she thought to herself. Looking back down at the countertop, she was surprised to see something sitting there.  
The girl’s beaten up camera.

Carol smirked.  
Oh, she’d be back alright.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have more ideas or prompts you'd like me to write for any pairing or fandom, leave them in a comment or hop on over to my blog- my username is the same and anon is always on!


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